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Young Adult Heroines: Apparently all the same?

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Browsing through my personal Facebook, I saw this link shared by a fellow reader. The link has Katniss Everdeen's face on it, and the title of the article is "Why Do All The Girls Who Save the World Look a Certain Way?" Immediately, I was intrigued and clicked on it, hoping that it would be accurate. However, it wasn't... at least, in my opinion.

Below is the photo of the diagram. You can click it to make it bigger. For the actual article, click here to go to the original source.

I found so many things wrong here. Katniss Everdeen as shy? Hermione Granger has low self-esteem? There was a Harry/Ron/Hermione love triangle? Lena Duchannes didn't have a supportive partner? Bella Swan is a fighter? Hmm...

To no surprise, if you read the comments for the article, everyone's pretty much saying the same thing. I just find it interesting, and thought I'd share with you all. Take the time to look at the diagram, and I would love to hear what you think! :)

3 comments:

I guess this is just based on the movies rather than the characters from the books but there are still plenty of inaccuracies like the one you mention with the "love triangle" between Hermione, Ron, and Harry. I also think it is funny that Katniss is described as shy or quiet and having low self esteem. I never thought of her that way. She seemed pretty confident to me.

Looking at the books though there are some similar characteristics when it comes to the strong heroine in teen fiction. The single parent is one that is very common as well as the idea that this character is responsible as a protector or provider or leader for those she cares about.

The chart itself may have a lot of inaccuracies, but I suppose a reader more familiar with the conventions could come up with an even more damning one. I've found YA novels formulaic for quite a while--to the point that I had to start spacing them out so I didn't feel like I was reading the same story over and over again. This is not, however, necessarily a bad thing. Remember Axis of Awesome's Four Chord Song? Conventions can be good, if they're done well.

Oh hello. I'm Jillian and this is my own little space on the interwebs.

Random Ramblings is a blog I started in 2010. It centers around my life as an avid reader, a writer, a lover of words. Here I post reviews, raves, rants, discussions, and talk about pretty much anything surrounding the world of literature - or really just about anything that comes to mind. Generally though, I talk about random things in life that interest me and inspire me.